26 October, 2015

Cold War 2.0: US heavy military equipment arrives in Estonia

“The
first batch of heavy US military vehicles has been shipped to Estonia
and is due to arrive at a NATO base on October 26, General Staff of
the Estonian Defense Forces says. The shipment contains 40 pieces of
military equipment, including four M1A2 Abrams tanks and ten Bradley
armored vehicles. It was delivered from Latvia to Estonia by rail and
is earmarked for the company-sized unit of the US 3rd Infantry
Division that will replace another US unit previously deployed in the
country.”

“Another
batch of military equipment will be delivered to Estonia on October
26. It will include two combat engineer vehicles as well as some
operational support equipment. Three Paladin 155mm self-propelled
artillery platforms have also been allocated to the new US unit in
Estonia, but they will arrive at the Tapa base only in mid-November,
Estonian media report, citing Captain Arvo Joesalu, information
officer at the headquarters of the defense forces in Tallinn.”

“Since
Russia’s reunification with Crimea and the outbreak of a military
conflict in eastern Ukraine last spring, NATO has stepped up its
military presence along Russia’s borders with the Baltic States and
Eastern Europe, and conducted a series of drills in Europe, including
the first testing of its missile defense system.”